>[!quote] *A personification* of a [[../../02 Areas/Math/Augmented Matrix#Row Operations|Row Operation]].
An [[Elementary Matrix]] is a square [[Matrix]] that represents a [[Augmented Matrix|Row Operation]] being done to an [[Augmented Matrix]].
Every [[Augmented Matrix|Row Operation]] has a corresponding [[Augmented Matrix|Row Operation]].
When representing an [[Augmented Matrix]] as $A\vec x = \vec b$, you can more rigorously denote row operations as multiplying both sides of the equations by an [[Elementary Matrix]].
>[!example]
Add $2$ times the first row to the second row.
>$\begin{align}
>\mat{1 & 0 &0 \\ 2& 1 &0\\0&0&1}
>\end{align}$
| [[Augmented Matrix\|Row Operation]] | [[Elementary Matrix]] | [[Determinant]] |
| ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- |
| Add a multiple $k$ of row $i$ to row $j$ | Take the [[Identity Matrix]] and replace $A_{ij}$ with $k$ | $\det A = 1$ |
| Switch row $i$ and row $j$ | | $\det A=-1$ |
| Scaling row $i$ by [[Scalar]] $m$ | | $\det A = m$ |
A personification of [[Augmented Matrix]] Row